“Wine Immersion” Stay & Learn Courses in our Library

Planned & delivered by Top-20 UK Sommelier and Chef, Tom Fahey, our fun, informative wine courses focus on tasting not textbooks or exams & are hosted over two-day stays at our hotel for a true “wine immersion” experience. No jargon, no tests, just simple, direct guidance, lots of great wine, chat & knowledge that will change your wine prespective.

Courses run fortnightly from 2nd December 2024. Start dates vary depending on available so please enquire for precise times.
Places are available for 1 - 12 people on each course.
Groups of 10+ can reserve the entire property for a private course.
Prices start from £600 per-room for two nights bed & breakfast, one simple supper and all tasting wines.
Places available to non-residents from £200pp including all tasting wines.

Details of courses offered can be found below.

Level One Courses

Introduction to Food and Wine Pairing
Red wine goes with meat and white wine goes with fish; so what goes with vegetables? Yes, food and wine pairing is confusing. On the one hand you should probably just drink the wine you like with the food you like, but does that mean you’re missing out on greater enjoyment? How do texture, flavour and taste in wines and food impact each other, and how can you decide which types of wines and which types of food exhibit complementary characteristics?

On this two-day course at The Terrace Rooms & Wine, Top 20 UK Sommelier and Chef, Tom Fahey, will introduce 20 wines with 10 different bites of food that answer the question of whether food and wine can be greater together. Delegates will leave as the most qualified amateur sommelier they know, with all the basic knowledge needed to match wines with food.

How to Buy a Wine You’ll Like Every Time.
Buying wine in the UK is very difficult because in supermarkets or on-line there is no one to guide us, and in independent wine shops or restaurants we often perceive an ulterior motive. Wouldn’t it be nice to know categorically what you like in a wine and use that information to make confident buying decisions without just sticking to the same country or grape every time? What causes differences in taste, texture & flavour across wines & how does anyone know which of these variables is likely to yield something they will enjoy? What does a label tell us about a wine and how can we get an idea of whether what it’s telling us will mean we enjoy it?

On this two-day course at The Terrace Rooms & Wine, Top 20 UK Sommelier Tom Fahey will pour 24 wines across red, white, rose & sparkling categories that, tasted together, highlight specific categories of flavour, texture and taste, including full explanations of why and how this links to regions, labels and alcohol content. By the end of this course you’ll be a confident amateur wine buyer able to select wines you should always enjoy.

Level Two Courses

In-depth Food & Wine Pairing: Rose & Orange
In-depth Food & Wine Pairing: Red
In-depth Food & Wine Paring: Sparkling
In-depth Food & Wine Pairing: White

Building on knowledge & experience gained on the Level 1 food and wine pairing course, these two-day sessions dive deeper into each main category of wine and investigate in more detail how food can mirror and extend the flavours of each wine, and how seasoning impacts the suitability of a wine to drink with a particular dish. By the end of any of these courses you will have all the skills needed to enhance any wine with a suitable dish or vice versa.

Buying the perfect wine: Rose & Orange
Buying the perfect wine: Red
Buying the perfect wine: Sparkling
Buying the perfect wine: White

Building on the taste preferences and systems for buying wine you like at Level 1, this course goes into more depth but does all of it by replacing a textbook with actual wines to taste & learn about. You’ll try 24 wines in each course that allow you to make a wide range of comparisons based on the age on wines, the choices a winemaker takes when creating a wine, low intervention vs traditional wine-making, mass-market bulk wine vs small, family producers, and finally, answer the question of whether premium, in-demand producers actually make more enjoyable wines. We will also look at wine labels and what they mean for different countries and regions, different places to buy & source wine, & make some micro-comparisons to decide whether terroir really means anything much in the glass. By the end of any of these courses you’ll have been able to directly compare wines in order to never make a bad buying decision.